American Chamber Orchestra

2019 Concerto Competition
February 23 & 24, 2019

Our 2018 Winners

Gerald Kim is 14 years old and a freshman at Fairfield Ludlowe High School and is currently studying violin with Wendy Sharp. He started playing violin in 1st grade in Westport Suzuki Music School. Gerald joined the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestra in 5th grade and is in his 3rd year in Principal orchestra.
In addition to GBYO, he plays in a string quartet coached by Fiona Murray and in a string sextet coached by Asya Meshberg. He has participated in the Chamber Music Central since 2nd grade as well as Chamber Music Institute for young musicians last the summer of 2017. Besides music, he has a3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a member of the Fairfield World Champion Tae Kwon Do Demo Team. He loves teaching younger kids as a junior instructed in that martial art and as a volunteer at McKinley Elementary School.

Mark Xu

Mark Xu, a senior at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT, began playing piano at age 5 and violin at age 8. He made his solo debut with the Hamden Symphony Orchestra in April of 2015 after winning the Hamden Young Musicians Concerto Competition. Later that same year, Mark was named the first-place winner of the American Protégé International Concerto Competition and, as such, performed in concert at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. In 2016, Mark placed 2nd in the New England Youth Symphony International Young Musicians Concerto Competition and 3rd in the Hersher Family Foundation Greater Bridgeport Symphony Young Instrumentalist Concerto Competition. Recently, Mark won first place in the 2018 American Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition and will solo with the orchestra in June. This past summer, he was also invited to be a featured soloist with the China Film Symphony Orchestra in Beijing, China. Mark is thrilled to perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Maestro Jonathan Yates and the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra in March of 2018 as the winner of the NSO Concerto Competition.
Mark currently studies violin at the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Ann Setzer and Mr. Khullip Jeung, serves as Assistant Principal violinist in the Pre-College Orchestra, and is the first violinist in his Juilliard Quartet. Prior to Juilliard Pre-College, Mark attended the Preparatory Division of the Mannes School of Music where he was accepted into the Honors Program and was the concertmaster of the Mannes Prep Symphony Orchestra for the 2015-2016 season. He was a member of the Norwalk Youth Symphony (NYS) for six years and served as the assistant concertmaster of its Principal Orchestra during the 2014-2015 season and concertmaster for its May Concert. He has also served as the concertmaster of the NYS Concert and Philharmonia orchestras. Mark has performed at recitals and winners’ concerts in venues including Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and Steinway Hall. He was invited to play with the Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra at its spring concert and has played side-by-side with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and the Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic as well. In past summers, Mark has attended the Meadowmount School of Music and the Chamber Music Institute for Young Musicians.
Along with his teachers at Juilliard, Mark also studies with Dr. Stephan Tieszen of the Mannes School of Music and previously with Ms. Asya Meshberg of Darien, CT. As the concertmaster of the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, he has played in the CMEA Southern Regional and All-State concerts and performed in various concerts at Hopkins.
Mark passionately believes in the power of music as a healing art. This inspired him to found the club “Harmonies for Healing.” Last February, the club held a benefit concert which raised over $4,500 for Music Haven, a non-profit organization in New Haven with a mission to “give all kids a chance to play [music.]” In addition, he regularly plays violin for patients at hospitals and nursing homes, teaches kids how to play violin, collaborates with Arts for Healing, and serves as the Co-Regional Director of the Back to Bach Project’s Connecticut Chapter. In recognition of his volunteer efforts, Mark was awarded the 2017 President’s Volunteer Service Award. Besides music, he enjoys playing basketball and being a member of the Hopkins Math, Science Olympiad, and golf teams. Mark lives in Weston and was accepted into Harvard College’s Class of 2022.

Jiaqi was born and raised in Japan, and goes by her Japanese name, Kaki. She is currently a junior at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT. Ever since starting the piano at the age of four, she has participated in various competitions in Japan, and has received many prizes, including first place in several regional competitions.
During our sophomore year at Choate, Kaki placed fourth in the 92Y Schoool of Music Concerto Competition in New York City and was also awarded first place in the 40th Renee B. Fisher Piano Competition in New Haven. This year, she was a finalist in the 5th Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Piano Competition in New York City, as well as the winner of the Hamden Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has studied with Yukitaka Masui in Japan and is currently working with Professor Wei-Yi Yang at the Yale School of Music. When she is not performing as a soloist, she enjoys playing the violin for the Choate orchestra. At home in Japan over the breaks, she loves practicing karate, reading Japanese literature, and eating great food.